Page 17

??The Devil’s Advocate

Dorian

She didn’t run. Just… backed away.

Slow. Controlled. Clever girl.

But the shadows were faster. Mine always were.

They slithered from the walls, wrapping around her legs, her arms, her throat, not to harm, only to hold.

Her eyes were wide, wild with understanding. She knew who I was now. What I was. She’d seen too much. And too soon.

Still, she didn’t scream.

She didn’t beg.

She watched me.

Even when shadows coiled around her and I whispered, “Sleep.”

Her body stiffened, then fell into the arms of the dark. Her head lolled to the side. Her breathing slowed. Peaceful.

Too peaceful for what came next.

I caught her before she hit the ground, cradling her like she was made of glass. Like I hadn’t just erased every illusion of safety she thought she had.

The mansion was silent when I arrived. Always was. That’s how I liked it.

My wards stirred at the perimeter, recognizing me, tasting her. The moment we crossed the threshold, the entire house shifted. A pulse of magic rolled across the walls like a heartbeat. My heartbeat. It would obey only one master.

And now she was inside it.

I carried her up the east wing stairs, the ones no one else ever uses. Not staff. Not guests. Not even ghosts.

The room I brought her to hadn’t been touched in years. It smelled like dust and old promises. A perfect coffin for a secret.

For her.

I laid her on the bed, black sheets cool against her skin. She didn’t stir. My spellwork held. But it wouldn't last forever.

Soon, she’d wake. And then I’d have to decide what to do with her.

Erase her memory?

Bind her?

Break her open and pour the truth in until she begged to forget?

My hand hovered above her cheek, just shy of contact. I could feel her warmth from here. Her pulse. Still alive. Still mine to protect. Still mine to ruin.

Cassian’s words rang in my mind.

Ember Carr.

The girl Kreed tried to kill. The girl whose mother was carved open like a sacrament. The girl who walked through fire and didn’t burn.

He missed her once. He wouldn’t miss again.

And the thought of losing her to him, losing this, it made something inside me fracture.

Not fear.

Not guilt.

Possession.

I whispered another spell under my breath. Shadows seeped into the corners of the room, curling like serpents. Watching. Waiting.

If Kreed came for her again, he wouldn’t find a girl. He’d find a cage with teeth.

I moved to the far wall, placing my palm flat against the stone. Runes ignited, casting pale blue light that danced across her sleeping face.

“Mine now,” I murmured, voice low. Final.

Because this wasn’t just protection. This was war.

And I didn’t lose wars. Not when she was on the line.